


On a Prayer

by Sera_F (TorehZhark)



Series: The Seraph and the Sentinel [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28387917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TorehZhark/pseuds/Sera_F
Summary: When the one you love most calls you in dire need, you answer.
Series: The Seraph and the Sentinel [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037721





	On a Prayer

**Author's Note:**

> I'll never forget the criticism I got for writing this pieces: why the hell would any of this actually happen? One reader thought the premise was too far fetched -- and, spoiler, she's right. This piece needs to be reworked, but for now it does what I want it to do.

Though it was bound to be midday outside the sanctuary I found myself lighting yet another candle as I waited for the wet ink to dry. Were the sanctuary not protected from magic within its walls I would have liked to conjure light to shine above me, or paint an illusion of the world outside to remind me of the hours left in the day.

“More reports for you, Seraph.” One of my senior wardens called Tefni placed a bundle of scrolls on the edge of my desk before bowing. “There are more to come, but the messengers aren’t expected to arrive until tomorrow morning _._ ”

“When they arrive I’ll --” Atop the desk my wedding band rattled unexpectedly from the scrolls Tefni had placed. The loud noise cut me off. 

“I’ll --” I tried again, but the ring Caides had given me clattered once more like a child’s top. Curious I picked up the silver band just as Tefni moved to peer over my shoulder. I still had not gotten used to wearing the metal thing. He had more “practice” in that regard. Second marriage was --

“Seraph.”

The ring was warm in my hand, though the shaking had stopped. Tefni was pointing at the light it now shed; between my fingers white beams scattered brightness throughout the room like a broken lantern. I opened my hand.

“Tefni?”

The warden leaned in, tracing the silver in my hand. Some of the light fell in mysterious patterns, lines and shapes held in midair by magic. Arcane runes maybe, though I could not make them out.

“A... summon,” she mused. Her eyes moved swiftly to find my gaze. “Is not this place protected?” Tefni’s brow furrowed for a moment. Then we both spoke at the same time:

“Caides.”

Tefni quickly stood, collecting her robes as she watched me slide the ring back onto my left hand. The light had grown in the last few moments to envelope my wrist and part of my sleeve. My office now was as bright as the suns at noon -- I had to squint to make out Tefni in her silver uniform. On my hand the ring grew warm, and the light almost too bright. Though it gave off no sound, my voice rose to overtake the brightness.

“Tefni! Assemble whoever you can at the sanctuary doors!” I looked to the warden as I stood, readying myself. The war, his war, had ended years ago. There were jokes that our marriage saw to that. Yet he and I guessed there would be things in the after times, dangers we could not foresee. To this end Caides had agreed to this magic as a protective measure, to call one of us to the other in a moment of danger. We had celebrated our anniversary, our first together, earlier this year; since then we had not once invoked the protective spell hidden in our rings.

“We stand at your side, Seraph!” Tefni called back. The light was too much now, blocking the office from view in a blistering radiance, but I could hear her footsteps as she hurried down the stairs to assemble more help.

“Caides, wherever you are, take me there,” I offered in prayer.

Light surrounded me from hand to foot until there was nothing else. There was no choice but to wait for the magic to take effect, to summon me to wherever I had been called. It pulled next at the ground beneath me, the unseen floor giving way to drop my body into a freefall. There was nothing I could do but trust. I closed my eyes to focus, and to feel the presence of the light that surrounded me. Our wedding bands had been blessed by my god during our ceremony, and in that moment I prayed the divine would give me power enough to help Caides. Against whatever evils had befallen him.

There was first a weight that surrounded me. One not new nor foreign. From that white emptiness, as it had done time and time before, light pressed firmly against my body. My faith granted me a blessing of protection and safety, the armor that protected me. Gleaming metal etched from light guarded my shoulders and chest; sacred iron covered my legs and back. A familiar tug between my shoulders heralded great wings unfurling, white as snow and wider than I was tall. Unconsciously I felt the limbs flap timidly before taking larger scoops of air. My falling slowed, and I felt the weight of a shield now pull my left arm downwards. I was the Seraph of the Radiant, blessed by the divine; damn if I didn’t show up to save my husband in sacred fullplate.

Then came the white light to fill the space around me -- or rather, I felt the world begin to force its way back into the whiteness. Air now rushed up from below and I fell; I could see beneath me a pinprick of color grow and expand. White became blues and greens, browns and yellows. Unfurling like a map I could start to make out masses of color, then shapes, then trees and hills, then a man atop a rock looking across an expanse of forest before him.

Caides.

I felt in control now, willing my new wings to carry downwards towards him. As they arched to control my descent, I raised my empty right hand above my head. Light collected upon it as I spoke.

“Hear me! You stand in the presence of one of the Seven, the Seraph of the Radiant!”

My voice boomed as I called out, though I could not see a single creature, save Caides. _Perhaps the threat is invisible._ I readied still the magic in my outstretched arm as he turned from the rocky outcropping to face me. A hand covered his face as Caides watched on, though I scanned his surroundings for the danger I had been summoned against.

“Reveal thyself!”

I floated down towards Caides and his vantage point on the rocks. Still I could not see those who sought ill of him. Another handful of quick flaps, and my boots met the earth.

“Caides, what is it?” Though proud my voice held some fear as I spoke: _where were the attackers? What was the threat?_ I lowered my arm, the light disappearing as I did, and took a step towards my better half.

“What happened?”

Caides was clad in his patrol gear, a tightly-packed knapsack slung over the hunting jacket of his people. He wore his old one, the one his mother had given him when he was deemed a man: this jacket the one without medals or markings of war.

“Caides?”

He stepped closer to me, his broad stride whisper-quiet as it always was. I watched him as he moved, looked to his deep green eyes for an answer. They reminded me so much of the forests he loved, and I smiled beneath my helm.

“I needed you.” His voice was wide and deep as always; though he only spoke to me it felt like he was addressing the wilds around us. Letting them in on our secret.

“I missed you.”

It wasn’t before his words ran through my brain twice that I moved forwards. One hand reached for him as the other pulled at my helmet, wrenching the bright metal from my face. My hair was sweaty and tousled, but I could only beam as I pulled him into a half-hug. Caides mirrored my grin, throwing his arms around me in a bearish hug. Chuckling, he pulled me in warmly -- though my armor and his jacket prevented any closer intimacy. I could only laugh at the absurdity of our situation.

“You spent the summons on me, for this?” Tears welled in my eyes as my chest heaved. He was both close and not close enough, so I pulled myself from my husband to try and rid my arms of their protections. I giggled as I tried to undo the armored clasps. Later, I would berate him for such a wasteful use of powerful magic. But for now Caides took my right arm in his hands to doff my armor work for me. He was still smiling.

“I missed you,” he repeated.

It took a few moments for he and I to remove the armor together, letting the front pieces fall to the ground with my shield and helmet. Kicking them aside I pulled him back into a furious hug, burying my face in his neck. “You’re a righteous fool.”

“But would you walk your fool through the rest of his patrol hike?”

I nodded, my wet hair plastered against his skin. “Just help me out of this armor.”

“I wasn’t summoned to help you with your armor, Mister Seraph.”

“I was your summon, Mister Sentinel.”


End file.
